


raise my hands, paint my spirit gold

by everythings_fine



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), SwanQueen - Fandom
Genre: AU- Canon Divergent, F/F, Future Fic, Swan Mills Family, swanqueen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 02:18:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13378023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everythings_fine/pseuds/everythings_fine
Summary: "Her own voice muted, she only knows she’s speaking by the vibration in her vocal chords, the slight tingle as the words spill from her lips. The words echo after they’ve been been exposed, her cheeks flushed and her heart racing to the rhythm of hope. She’s dreamt about this dozens of times, has imagined what it would be like to ask that simple, yet life-altering question.She sees it in her lover’s face, momentarily bewilderment clashing with a flicker of disbelief. A question they’d both agreed they’d need never ask, their commitment to one another spanning far deeper than a public declaration."





	raise my hands, paint my spirit gold

She says it by accident. Swept up in the bliss of the moment. Lost in the melodious laugh of her lover, a throaty guffaw only a lucky few had the privilege of witnessing. Heart filled with affection as she watched their children playing with the water, chasing the waves in and out of the shore. She sits beside with her toes buried beneath warm layers of sand, arms crossed on top of her knees, her chin resting gently on top. She doesn’t realize she’s said it until the world around her comes to a standstill, her partner’s eyes meeting hers, wide with shock.

 

_“Marry me?”_

 

Her own voice muted, she only knows she’s speaking by the vibration in her vocal chords, the slight tingle as the words spill from her lips. The words echo after they’ve been been exposed, her cheeks flushed and her heart racing to the rhythm of hope. She’s dreamt about this dozens of times, has imagined what it would be like to ask that simple, yet life-altering question. She sees it in her lover’s face, momentarily bewilderment clashing with a flicker of disbelief. A question they’d both agreed they’d need never ask, their commitment to one another spanning far deeper than a public declaration.

 

The kids skip up to them when they see they’ve gone silent. Their oldest, now 19, stands with his hand grasped firmly by a five year-old girl with a brown ponytail and green eyes. He knows something is wrong, can feel the stillness of the air around them. She, meanwhile, is unsure. Her parents sometimes do this; sometimes, they don’t talk, but instead are completely content to sit together in a soundless peace.

 

They’ve told her it’s because of the years they spent at odds, harsh words they’d exchanged out of fear, words they’d never be able to truly recant. Their daughter finds it hard to believe there was ever a time they they weren’t in love. When they think about it, they wonder if perhaps, they’d been in love even then.

 

And so, as she looks from one parent to the other, she wonders if this is one of those moments. If they were simply basking in the comfort of one another’s presence.

 

“Marry me?” The girl’s mother says, the two words falling between the four of them, as if it were a question for them all.

 

“Ma, are you…?” their son begins to ask, brow furrowed slightly.

 

“We’ve made it this far,” his mother says. “I know what we said and I still believe it. We don’t need a ceremony or anyone else to prove anything. I don’t have a ring and I—“

 

“Yes,” a hoarse voice cuts in. “I’ll marry you.”

 

Arms are wrapping around her neck before she can catch her breath, their children cheering and jumping in the air, delighted squeals traveling along the coastline. She feels the woman she’s given her heart to, the mother of her children, her true love— she feels her trembling against her. Her usually stoic nature exchanged for the briefest instances of vulnerability, exposed to those closest to her.

 

“Yeah?” Emma breathes in disbelief.

 

Pulling away, just enough to peer into her lover’s eyes, Regina nods with a smile that reminds Emma of why she fell in love with her. “I thought you’d never ask.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try something a little new, a short, less than 600-word story. My writing style has changed a lot since I first started posting fanfiction and I thought I needed to challenge myself to use more figurative language-- the way I did when I started writing in high school. 
> 
> So, this is a little different than my usual work. I hope y'all enjoyed!


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